Crandal BR, Hazen AL, Dickson KS, Tsai CYK, Trask EV, Aarons GA. Mental health symptoms of youth initiating psychiatric care at different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health 2022;
16:77. [PMID:
36180887 PMCID:
PMC9524341 DOI:
10.1186/s13034-022-00511-9]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To examine differences in caregiver and youth reported mental health symptoms for youth initiating mental health treatment through phases of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, compared with symptomology reported the prior year.
STUDY DESIGN
This retrospective study analyzes group differences in mental health symptoms (Pediatric Symptom Checklist; PSC-35) based on 7874 youth seeking treatment in publicly funded mental health treatment programs during California's Stay-At-Home order (March-May, 2020) and the prolonged pandemic (May-December, 2020) phases of the COVID-19 pandemic as compared with matching groups in 2019.
RESULTS
Youth entering mental health treatment services, and their caregivers, reported significantly increased internalizing, externalizing, and attention-related symptoms during the prolonged pandemic phase, but not during the acute stay-at-home phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with small effect sizes. Group comparison analyses did not detect a significantly larger effect for Sexual and Gender Diverse (SGD) youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, transgender, Two-Spirit, queer, and/or intersex, and Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC).
CONCLUSIONS
A large-scale comparison of youth mental health symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic suggests that mental health was disrupted for youth seeking treatment as the pandemic prolonged throughout 2020.
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